ASHANTI HIP-HOPS INTO TOWN
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
R&B/hip-hop vocalist Ashanti performed at Blaisdell Center last night.
Ashanti makes
dream come true
The final song was the best last night as Ashanti entertained several thousand hip-hop and pop fans at Blaisdell Arena.
The self-styled "princess of hip-hop and R&B" -- an unknown this time two years ago, a Grammy Award-winning arena concert headliner now -- told the crowd as she introduced "Dreams" that her own dream of stardom has taken nine years and several dead-end record deals to achieve. She then sang it a capella to close the show with a memorable display of her natural vocal appeal.
A series of vintage photos and performance clips enhanced her message by showing how far she's come since she was born Ashanti Douglas nearly 23 years ago.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ashanti's audience at Blaisdell Center had plenty of enthusiasm.
It was a good show compared to others that have been perpetrated here in recent years by hot new hip-hop and rap acts. Ashanti was on for about an hour if you include the time used for costume changes, and the men and boys in the crowd certainly couldn't complain about her attire. She opened the show wearing a white micro-mini and abbreviated halter top, returned after her first change in a red bra and pin-striped Daisy Dukes, and finished the show in a sporty black micro-dress with a cut-down-to-there top, set off with a large heart-shaped medallion.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
She clearly liked the reception she got. Here, she turned the microphone toward the audience, which was singing along. They knew all the words.
Ashanti entertained between changes with solo versions of "Always On Time" and "What's Luv?," served up a sexy version of "Foolish," and got an enthusiastic response when she told the fans, "Ashanti is down for you!"
It took much longer than necessary to select a man to be her love interest in "Rescue," but props to Ashanti for not taking the bit to the tedious and sleazy depths Janet Jackson plumbed to in her last two concerts here.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Her latest No. 1 CD is called "Chapter II."
A large video screen over the stage kept it relatively intimate for the few fans in the upper level and those who chose to sit in the risers instead of standing. No one did much dancing, but the crowd -- many of them apparently pre-teens -- made good use of the spacious arena level "dance floor" when Ashanti's rendition of "Happy" opened with a balloon drop. The kids loved the balloons even though they quickly popped most of them.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
